“Man is nothing else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he realizes himself, he is, therefore, nothing else but the sum of his actions, nothing else but what his life is.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre
We can go on and on now and find a number of clichés that could fit the current situation surrounding our beloved Rebaño, but they would all boil down to one important fact, last Thursday’s game was one of the least well-played games of the Vucetich era.
On the surface, we could plainly tell that San Luis had done their homework and came out gunning. It was clear from the get-go that this was not going to be one of those games where the rival was going to patiently wait for the opportunity to set up a swift counterattack while the Red and White lines did all the work. San Luis came out gunning and this time they were lethal. Atletico had shown the same drive in their previous two games but had been unlucky. Last Thursday, all the previous missed breaks paid off for Rocco’s team plus Pablo Barrera was on fire, leading the team towards victory with his pulsating forward momentum. By the seventh minute, Chivas were down one-nil.
The stats tell the tale. Or do they?
On paper, the data doesn’t look so bad. 60% possession, 417 passes with 80% accuracy for Chivas. Even on shots, 13 – 10 in favor of San Luis, with the exception being that three of their six on target shots ended up in the back of the net. By the end of the first half, I was flabbergasted. Where in the world was Vuce’s midsection connection? By far Chivas has without a doubt one of the Liga MX’s best young midfield players.
Something which did stand out as particularly peculiar in last Thursday’s prime time match, the high number of fouls and yellow cards: San Luis twenty fouls, 4 of them warning cards, Guadalajara close behind, fourteen and three yellows. Midfield must have been a battlefield…or a mess.
If the defenders are the arms and legs of a team, the “head and brains” of the team are in the midsection of the pitch. Games are usually won in the midfield. The first five to ten minutes of the game are usually slow as both teams measure each other up as both struggle to take control of the middle of the field. Give or take a few exceptions, most successful teams have a solid mid-pitch flow to connect defenders and offenders. If there is a lack of communication there, the team is missing the connection. As I mentioned before, it was surprising that Chivas, having one of the most promising group of young Mexican midfielders, was basically steamrolled by San Luis.
There is no use in crying over spilled milk. Time to “ocuparte” instead of “preocuparte”. Victor Manuel and his tech support team have had a lot to do this week mostly trying to find the answer. Two out of nine possible points were far from what was projected in preseason planning. Speaking seriously, Chivas should have put at least six of those nine points in the bag.
At the end of the match, the scorer of Chivas solitary goal, “el del honor”, Jose Juan Macias who had come in for “Lalo” Torres in the beginning of the second half gave his impressions of the game where he was very clear in indicating that both he and his teammates needed to supply a good dose of self-criticism in order to make the best of the situation.
"Obviously we know that these are not the matches or the results we expected, but we must be self-critical and reverse the situation," said 'JJ' after the match. "We are aware we have thrown away a great opportunity to add points to the cause, but we are aware of our abilities and are confident that we will be able to flip the situation," he added.
While we stand around splitting hairs, que “the defense was lost”, que “the wrong players in the wrong positions”. So much back and forth of mostly opinions and few facts and analysis. The one truth which came out of the game is that there is still a long road to be traveled before being able to reach an acceptable version of the Rebaño Sagrado.
Strong words and the right attitude from the striker, words which will most probably be repeated and echoed by many others in the Red and White ranks before the week ends and the game against Juarez, but words as they say “se los lleva el viento”.
Perhaps now is the time for “Speaking Softly” and “Carrying a Big Stick”.
Actions will always speak louder than words.
